Genesis rocks WEC Hypercar as Jaubert takes pole at Barcelona

Genesis Magma Racing’s incredible debut season in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Hypercar class hit another milestone this afternoon at Barcelona, when Mathys Jaubert set a rapid 1m30.166s to score the brand’s first-ever pole position in the No. 17 GMR-001 LMDh.

The young Frenchman’s time, featuring two purple sectors, came after an improvement from 1m30.329s, which put him on provisional pole in the Hyperpole shootout.

“It’s an amazing feeling. The car was just amazing. It was all about putting it together on a track that’s tricky with low grip,“ Jaubert, who became the youngest ever WEC pole-sitter, said. “We went for the right strategy on tires, and here we are.”

“A star is born. It shows we mean serious business in this championship,” added Andre Lotterer, who shares the No. 17 with Jaubert and Pipo Derani.

Speed and tactics earned Genesis its first pole position. James Moy Photography/Getty Images

Adding to the Korean brand’s rapid Saturday, Mathieu Jaminet put the sister No. 19 car on the second row, third, with a 1m30.366s, and briefly looked on course to snatch pole and create a front-row lockout on his final lap, before dropping time in the second and third sectors. 

Splitting the two GMR-001s was the championship-leading No. 8 Toyota Racing TR010 HYBRID of Ryo Hirakawa, who came within two tenths of pole with his best lap of 1m30.336s.

RELATED:

• Garage 59 takes LMGT3 pole for 6 Hours of Barcelona

The No. 35 Alpine will join the second Genesis on row two in fourth, ahead of the No. 12 JOTA Cadillac and No. 83 AF Corse 499P, which took fifth and sixth. The No. 36 Alpine, No. 50 Ferrari, No. 7 Toyota and No. 38 Cadillac rounded out the top 10. 

Both Aston Martin THOR Team’s Valkyries, which showed pace through practice, narrowly missed the Hyperpole cut, qualifying 11th and 12th.

“People are expecting us to get into Hyperpole, which is a good problem to have. Hopefully we can make up ground tomorrow, especially if it rains, which is highly likely,” No. 009 driver Marco Sorensen said.

Another surprise was the No. 51 AF Corse 499P finishing up 13th. Antonio Giovinazzi briefly topped the session, but like Fuoco in Hyperpole, his best time was deleted for a track limits violation, leaving him with a mountain to climb on his final flyer. It wasn’t enough, and the Italian finished a tenth shy of booking a spot in the shootout.

Neither BMW nor Peugeot snuck into the top 10 either. BMW Team WRT, which has titles to fight for, will hope its fortunes change tomorrow.

“Our strongest results have been driving forward in the race. Qualifying is never our strength, but I didn’t expect to be this slow,” BMW driver Sheldon van der Linde admitted. “We have work to do on the shorter run side, but also on the long runs; we aren’t looking too shiny.”

RESULTS